A 6-week participative course online course on Zoom starting Tuesday 6th May 2025

“The online training with Ruth was outstanding in every way. She is so knowledgeable and inspiring and breathes life into every session.”  – N.G. Course participant April 2023

• Do you love singing and have an itch to lead singing groups and build a singing community?
• Are you a health professional looking to use group singing as part of your work?
• Maybe you have been leading groups for a while but want to develop your leadership style and have more tools to develop your groups?

This course covers the essentials of how to lead successful singing sessions with 6 x weekly 1.5hr online course

A participative course on how to lead effective singing sessions with demonstrations and opportunities to try things out with supportive and constructive feedback. Each online session includes a practical warm-up and learning a song.

When? Tuesday afternoons 1:15-2:45pm (UK time) online on Zoom

Dates: 6th May, 13th May, 20th May, 3rd June, 10th June, 17th June. NB: No session on 27th May.

How much?

• Online course: £254.15  Special NVN 15% discount on the total price – usually £299

Use code at checkout:

NVN101 

• Bring a friend half price: £450 for 2 participants

Who is it for?

Emerging singing group leaders, existing leaders who want to develop their practice, health practitioners, arts and health facilitators, school teachers and anyone interested in leading singing groups.

What is included?

• 6 x 1.5hr live sessions
• Classnotes from the sessions
• Opportunities for one to one coaching during sessions
• Recordings of sessions
• Certificate of course attendance and completion

Max 8 participants

Please contact me with any questions: reroutledge@gmail.com

Course Structure

Week 1: All about YOU – identifying your strengths and areas of development, clarifying your role as a singing facilitator and what the boundaries around your role are.

Week 2: Warm-ups – what, how and why?

Week 3: Arm-gestures and non-verbal communication – starting and stopping, beating time, louds/softs/expression.

Week 4: How to efficiently teach a song.

Week 5: How to make your group sound amazing – active listening exercises.

Week 6: Trouble-shooting – managing group dynamics, pitching issues, recruitment and more.

My approach

Singing in a group is the act of making yourself vulnerable with others; seeing and hearing each other and being seen and heard using our voices/bodies and music. This creates the potential for deep connection and personal development and similarly the potential for deep hurt and destruction of confidence. Facilitating group singing is about creating a safe and supportive space to learn and grow together where participants are seen, heard, valued and co-creating with their facilitator. This course is participative, combining practical musicianship skills with group dynamics approaches informed by community music therapy, dance-therapy, sport psychology, psychodrama and singing therapy. Each session is structured around how to lead a safe and effective singing session, starting with a warm-up, learning a song with demonstrations and opportunities for you to experiment and try things out with constructive feedback.

My background

I am a singing facilitator and singing for health practitioner-researcher who is passionate about inclusion and using group singing to support the healthy development of individuals within a community.  After a degree in music and philosophy, I specialised in choral conducting, studying with Antoine Finck in Lyon, France. From there I founded and successfully led over 15 community choirs and singing for health groups in the UK and France (Pram Chorus parents’ choirs, Vocality Singing, Sol Singers) as well as leading groups for the Southbank Centre, London and family support charities Little Village and Homestart.

My experience is with people of all ages and abilities, from beginners to professionals in hospitals, schools, corporations, community and voluntary organisations and with people who have experienced homelessness, refugees, adults with disabilities/learning difficulties, children with SEND, mothers with PND amongst others. After attending training in creative leadership with Peder Karlsson (The Real Group, Perpetual Jazzile), I have developed an approach starting from a principle of care, developed into practical strategies to leading and running a choir to ensure inclusion, equality, listening, respect and each person being of value to the group. This has evolved into completing a Masters with the Voice Study Centre in Singing for Health, conducting research into the effects of group singing and developing a framework for singing for health research and practice.

Please contact me with any questions – reroutledge@gmail.com

What previous participants say…

“A fantastic course that provides a solid foundation, covering all the important elements of leading community groups. Especially useful focus on how to get the best sound from your choir, things to do with them that‘s not just singing songs.”

“Really friendly and personable facilitation by Ruth, who is clearly a legend and who I wish I was lucky enough to sing in a choir with.”

“An excellent course for emerging singing leaders providing opportunities to learn and practise skills from an experienced facilitator.”

“A great introduction to the principle skills of choir leading delivered with a relaxed, fun and supportive vibe.”

“I wasn’t sure about doing a course online, but it was excellent, easy to follow and totally interactive.”

“I enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot. Your friendly, supportive presentation of material was superb. You made me feel less scared that I might somehow be letting my singers down. I enjoyed meeting others starting out on their choir leading journey and they helped me a lot too. Seeing their different styles and approaches was great. “